640 reasons to believe another way is possible..
When you go out to the night markets or any market, you get your food and drinks served, you enjoy your meal then throw out the disposable plate or cup and don’t even think twice about it… Out of sight, out of mind right? But even though we’ve thrown it away, it doesn’t magically disappear. Disposable, single-use serve-ware usually ends up in one place - landfill, and every time we add to landfill we are steadily destroying the environment that allows us to breathe.
Wai Wash at Caring for Creation Māketi, Whau Pasifika Festival 2026
At our second ever Caring for Creation Māketi on the final day of the Whau Pasifika Festival 2026, the amazing TASI talavou youth, volunteered at our Wai Wash station, washing 640 plates, bowls and cups that would otherwise have become single-use waste.
Yes, you read right. In a cultural market of delicious eats, each food stall was serving meals and drinks on real plates and cups. Plates and cups that were washed right after use, to be re-used.
Even after the event, the serve-ware is squeaky clean and sanitised at Boundary right now ready for our next event. No need to support more single-use production.
On the surface it just looked like we were washing dishes. But to us it's deeper than that.
It’s about remembering who we are.
Our tūpuna didn't live in a throwaway culture. They valued what they had, cared for it, shared the work, and understood that the whenua and moana were not ours to consume—they were ours to protect for those who would come after us.
Every bowl washed was one less disposable container produced, transported, used for a few minutes, and then discarded to pollute creation for generations
TASI Talavou volunteers caring for creation at our Wai Wash station.
Every cup returned and reused was a small act of kaitiakitanga.
Every volunteer was living out the belief that caring for creation isn't someone else's responsibility, it’s all of our responsibility. To have an earth cared for, we must be the ones to do the caring not just through emotion, but through collective action.
Real dishes, no single-use throwaways.
We're incredibly grateful to TASI talavou, our PVA crew, the stallholders and the Whau Pasifika Trust who embraced the kaupapa, and everyone who chose to return their dishes instead of throwing them away.
Small actions become powerful when a community moves together.
Another way is possible! At your next event, consider using real dishes that won’t cost the earth.
640 dishes washed. Countless conversations started. A future worth caring for.
#Caring4Creation #WaiWash #WhauPasifikaFestival #Kaitiakitanga #TASI #ReuseRevolution